What Is It Going To Take?
by AlmightyBlonde
Summary: After Colony 196:After Endless Waltz. Heero made a promise to Relena, but what's it going to take for him to stay with her? (Hints of 3X4-beware)


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Gundam Wing. They belong to Sotsu, Bandai, and all those other lovely companies that brought that gorgeous image of Heero to my screen. But if they ever go under, I'll take all the boys! Well.. no.. not Wufei. He can burn Oo;  
  
The story takes place a month after the end of Endless Waltz. If you haven't seen it, you might be a little thrown off.  
  
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1 What's It Going To Take?  
  
  
  
Relena sighed at the stacks of paperwork that towered on her desk; it hadn't been more than a month since she'd announced her terra-formation project to both the world and the colonies when paperwork from all sorts of groups wanting a part in the momentous piece of history started flowing in. And what now? It'd just been an idea, and already people were expecting immediate action.  
  
For goodness's sake…I just got over the shock of seeing Heero again and already I've been swept into this chaos…  
  
Shaking her head, she cleared a spot in front of her and took out a fresh sheet of paper. When she'd found her best pen, she leaned forward at her desk with determination…and she wrote her heart out.  
  
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I promised that I would watch over her. I said that, but…what am I doing here?  
  
Heero had been walking down the pathways of the gardens that surrounded the office space where Relena presently sat writing a letter. The wind was stale, and it did little more than cause an infernal rubbing on his shoulder from his denim jacket. He stopped his aimless wandering and looked up to the top floors of the glass structure.  
  
I wonder which one she's in. I wonder if she knows I'm here.  
  
The former pilot sighed and stuck both hands into his pockets. In his left one, there was a small pistol- just in case. His fingers brushed over it with a sort of comfort. While he had willingly let Zero be torn apart not only by his fall to the Earth, but from his attack on the Brussels fortress, he couldn't help but yearn for the safety he had felt when he was strapped into it's cockpit. The gun was little more that a substitute for that warmth.  
  
In the back on his mind, he knew that someone was advancing on him- and quickly. He dropped his head, both eyes closed, and slipped the gun from its hiding place.  
  
"You're making a mistake…" he warned. With that said, he turned in time to press the end of the barrel to the would-be attacker's forehead.  
  
"H-hey…put that thing away, Heero! S'just me!"  
  
"Duo," sighed without opening his eyes. He made no effort to remove the gun either.  
  
"Checking up on the princess?" Duo chuckled, taking a few steps backwards. The American tugged his baseball cap down over his eyes.  
  
"What do you want?" Heero asked, obviously avoiding the question. It was only then did he replace the pistol to its resting place in his jeans.  
  
"I was only walking by," Duo insisted, grinning. His eyes wandered upward to the ambiguous place that his Japanese counterpart had been staring.  
  
"Mm," was all Heero had to say about that.  
  
"Heero…while I'm here, I should probably tell you."  
  
"Tell me what?"  
  
"Well…" Duo sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Quatre's pretty sick. We think he picked up some sort of viral infection when he got to the disposal block to pick up the Gundams."  
  
"He was wearing a suit, wasn't he?" Heero asked doubtfully.  
  
"Yeah, but according to Rashid, he slammed into it pretty hard. He may have chipped his helmet without even knowing it. You know how he is…he's so determined that something like that wouldn't even deter him. Trowa and Wufei are with him now.."  
  
Heero didn't let on anything. Whether he was worried or indifferent was entirely up to Duo's call.  
  
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Relena sighed triumphantly when she was finished with her letter. She read it over and over again before she finally had the nerve to seal it off in an envelope. Only then did it hit her that she had no way of mailing it to Heero. She was never sure where he was. For all she knew, he could be back on the colonies.  
  
Quatre.  
  
She could be sure that Quatre would forward the letter if she asked him to. Hastily, she called for a shuttle to be readied for L4. It enthralled her to be taking such an unexpected vacation without anyone knowing about it. Lately, she'd been so bogged down with her work that even a good night's sleep seemed like the most formidable task.  
  
And after this letter… that'll be the end of it. If he comes for me or not, I can't worry about him so much anymore.  
  
It wore Relena out to be so needy of the sight of her little Prince. She knew she was stronger than that. She knew that Heero believed she was stronger than that- and she was determined to prove him right.  
  
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Heero found himself in a small coffee shop a few blocks away from the impressive foreign affairs building. Duo leaned on the bar top while Heero sat, waiting for his order.  
  
"I thought you might want to see him. Wufei says that something that vague…no one knows what it is, and even one of his older sisters-you know, the other doctor- even she can't tell. And Wufei ought to know. He was a scholar before he started piloting, you know..," Duo rambled.  
  
"Duo."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Do you ever shut up?"  
  
Duo blinked and then sighed, combing a hand through his hair, careful not to muss it up too much. They remained like that for the longest time- Duo standing, Heero sitting. The latter's eyes grew distant and thoughtful; the former grew bored quickly.  
  
"Look," Duo finally said, "I have to be going. I was really only here on a delivery run. But Quatre wants to see you, I think."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Duo sighed again. It irked him that Heero could be so heartless sometimes. Nonetheless, Duo patted his friend's back and left the run-down establishment without so much as a goodbye. Heero, who did not offer a farewell either, gripped his own arms.  
  
Why does it hurt? Why… why do I care what happens to them? We aren't a team anymore. We were never meant to be.  
  
"Sir?" the tender interrupted. Heero looked up with a snap of the neck, his usual piercing cobalt eyes drowned in tears- something that was very unfamiliar to him.  
  
"Sir, are you going to drink your coffee?"  
  
Heero shook his head and stood, leaving the cup untouched. He threw a few dollars onto the countertop and swerved out the door, determined to find Duo.  
  
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"Quatre."  
  
Quatre, who had been lightly dozing on and off in his bed, turned to look at his caller through blurred over eyes. "Mm?"  
  
Trowa stepped into the room with a soft smile and sat on the edge of the bed, putting a motherly hand to the blonde's forehead. Still has a fever.  
  
"Duo called. He's coming back…with Heero."  
  
"Hee…ro?" Quatre smiled, dazed. Cold sweat rolled down his neck and matted his hair to the back of his neck. "I'm.. glad.."  
  
"Yes," Trowa agreed.  
  
Quatre stifled a cough- he hated to worry Trowa, and it was quite apparent, even through blurry eyes, that Trowa was forcing himself to smile. He reached out and took Trowa's hand from his own forehead and held it as steadily as he could. "Trowa… I'm very sick."  
  
Trowa looked away but nodded. Quatre didn't have o tell him; he could see it with his own eyes. It pained him to see one of the first people he'd ever really cared about lying in bed so helplessly. "Wufei will figure something out. Or your sister. You'll be fine."  
  
Quatre shuddered a little, but continued to smile. He squeezed his friend's hand and nodded. "I believe you."  
  
"Just the same…" Trowa whispered, daring to glance back, " Miss Relena's coming as well. She says she has a favor to ask of you; I told her you were unable to do anything for her at the moment, but--."  
  
Quatre shook his head, wordlessly cutting Trowa off. "Of course I can do her a favor. How can I turn her down? She's done so much…for everyone. Besides…,"he coughed, "maybe she and Heero will be here at the same time. Wouldn't that be… wonderful?"  
  
Trowa winced as Quatre gasped out the last word and then hastily inhaled for a renewed breath; all the same, he nodded. "Get some rest, Quatre."  
  
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Relena trotted down the docking hall to her shuttle with a briefcase in hand. Her luggage had already been loaded, and all that was left was for her to board herself. The single attendant directed her to the back of the shuttle, where she could comfortably sit throughout the duration of her flight.  
  
I really hate to fly…she thought.  
  
"Miss Darlian, we'll be landing on L4 within the next twenty hours. Please call if you need anything," the attendant smiled.  
  
"Yes, thank you..," Relana nodded, popping the brackets of her attaché case. When the stewardess had left, the minister removed the letter and placed in on her lap. She smiled to herself at the sight of it- it was her one piece of evidence that she really was strong.  
  
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Meanwhile, Heero and Duo had also begun their trek to L4, by means of Duo's personal delivery unit. Both were seated in the cockpit- Duo was at the wheel, so to speak, and Heero sat with his arms crossed and his eyes turned away.  
  
"Quatre's going to be real happy you decided to come see him," Duo kept insisting, humming as they took off. "Real happy."  
  
"Duo."  
  
"Mm? Yeah, yeah..I'll pipe down. You know, you really ought to lighten up a little bit, Heero. I mean--."  
  
"Thank you," Heero said simply, not looking back to the American.  
  
Duo took his eyes from the controls to glance at Heero, however. He was seemingly dumbstruck, and could only afford a nod.  
  
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[The next day]  
  
The two rurouni pilots had stopped off on L2 for a day. Duo didn't have the freedom to just drop his business whenever he felt like it. Heero didn't really mind the stop. Hilde was a nice enough girl, and not a bad cook, and he still needed time to figure out what about Quatre's condition hurt him so much. Duo spent the day sorting through orders and responding only to those that were to be run to L4. The others would have to be kept on hold until he got back.  
  
In Heero's temporary room, the Japanese youth sat on the bed, staring out of his window onto the colony. L2 had never been a place that he had visited much. That really wasn't what was on his mind, though. He was cursing himself for not making sure Relena was all right before he just took off on some whirlwind emergency trip.  
  
1.1 Forgive me, Relena. I have to break my promise for a little while…  
  
A knock at the door brought him back to the present.  
  
"Come in," Heero granted monotonously.  
  
Hilde poked her head into the room with a little bit of a smile. "Duo's still at the office, but there's a call for him. When I told the guy he wasn't in, he asked to speak to you instead."  
  
Standing, Heero followed her down the stairs to see who it was. He was surprised to see Wufei's face solemnly projected on the telescreen.  
  
"Yuy. I heard you're coming to see Quatre."  
  
"Yeah. After Duo gets finished here, we're heading to L4."  
  
Wufei sighed, closing his eyes and removing an unaccustomed pair of spectacles. "He's dying, Heero. There's nothing anyone can do about it. His sister.. myself.. the best doctors on the colony… we have no clue what it is."  
  
Heero said nothing. Inside, he felt his stomach turn and twits in ways he never thought possible.  
  
Wufei continued. "He's got a fever that has yet to break. It's been almost two weeks now. And major organs are becoming weak… the walls are wearing thin and his heart is pumping only enough blood to sustain him an hour at a time."  
  
"Can't you just transfer some blood to him?" Heero asked.  
  
"His body rejects it every time. We fear that his body isn't going to be able to keep up."  
  
Again, Heero could find nothing to say in response. He felt he couldn't breathe.  
  
"Please don't say any of this to him when you see him, Heero. He doesn't want everyone to worry about him. Trowa's morale is dragging enough for the both of them."  
  
"Understood."  
  
Wufei nodded; the connection was closed. For a while, Heero could only sit there and stare at the empty screen.  
  
Dying? How could he be dying? He's a Gundam Pilot…  
  
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Relena had landed on L4 earlier that morning. She checked into a small hotel not too far form Quatre's home and then headed directly for that exact place the next afternoon. She carried nothing with her but a purse to carry her letter. With each step she took on the sidewalks, she felt her heart lifting. It was a great burden to be letting go, and though she would always like to be able to see Heero, she felt that this was her first step in weaning herself from him.  
  
When she's reached her final destination, she smiled widely and rapped on the door. To her surprise, it was Trowa who answered. He seemed sleep- deprived; the bags under his eyes gave him away. In any case, he smiled and nodded, allowing her to step over the threshold without a word.  
  
"Where's Quatre?" she asked cheerfully.  
  
"His bedroom. Let me go make sure he's all right before you go in."  
  
"Oh…is he not feeling well today?"  
  
"You could say that."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that," Relena grimaced as the taller of the two turned and left her standing in the foyer.  
  
When Trowa returned, her motioned for her to follow. Cautiously, she did so, and was led into the dimly lit room where Quatre, against Trowa's protesting, had managed to sit up for his guest.  
  
"Miss…Relena!" Quatre smiled brightly, despite his obviously ill ambiance. "How nice of you.. you come see..me.."  
  
At first, Relena was so taken back by his appearance that she could say nothing. Fighting back a gasp, she manages a weak smile and approached his bed. Quatre held out a hand for her and when it was given, he placed a gentlemanly kiss on the back of it. Relena smiled more confidently.  
  
"What can…can I do f-for you?" Quatre asked. "Y..you had a favor to ask?"  
  
"Well…yes. But had I known you weren't feeling well, Quatre, I wouldn't have asked anything of you."  
  
"Nonsense.." Quatre chuckled dryly, lacing a cough in with it, "I'll gladly.. do what I .. I can."  
  
"W-well.." Relena grimaced, slipping the pure white envelope from her purse and holding it out for him. "I was…I was wondering if you'd forward this to Heero?"  
  
Trowa, who had been a bystander till now, stepped forward. "I will."  
  
Relena turned to smile at him with a voice caught her off guard. "No need. I'll take it." In the doorway, Heero stood with Duo directly behind him.  
  
"Yo, Princess!" Duo grinned.  
  
"..Heero.." Relena whispered to herself. She clutched the letter to her chest when he stepped forward.  
  
"Relena… I didn't know you'd be here," Heero grimaced slightly, and then turned to Quatre when he saw the grip she had on the letter. "How are you?"  
  
"Oh, me…I'm …great.." Quatre coughed. Blood spattered onto his bed sheet.  
  
"Quatre!" Trowa cried, rushing to his side and placing a hand on his back, using his other hand as a cup for the deep red blood the blonde kept spitting up.  
  
"Q…quatre…" Heero whispered, his eyes wide. Duo ran to the door when he heard a voice calling from the foyer.  
  
Relena and Heero were both motionless. For the first time in his life, Heero felt completely helpess. Relena, who was in shock of seeing her Prince yet again, was doubled over from this new surprise. Why hadn't anyone warned her?  
  
Duo returned with Wufei following swiftly behind. "We know what it is!" the Chinese youth was shouting. With him was a black briefcase that obviously carried something of high importance. His eyes went wide when he saw Trowa's hand overflowing with the blonde's blood. "No.."  
  
"Do something, Wufei!" Duo shouted.  
  
"I'm…. I'm too late," Wufei stuttered, shaking his head and backing up.  
  
"Wufei!" Trowa growled.  
  
Wufei nodded hastily and shooed everyone but Trowa from the room. In time, even he was expelled. And so, the five four of them – Heero, Duo, Relena, and Trowa- sat in silence as they awaited the news.  
  
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It was almost three hours before Wufei emerged. The sun was beginning its descent on the colony- it was nearly six in the evening. Immediately, they all stood. Wufei's head hung shamefully, and he dared not look at any of them.  
  
"My vaccine was too late. The virus.. it was so rare that it took us a long time to figure out what it was. There's not much vaccine for it since it's so…isolated. We took forever to find a supply…but we were too damn late. He doesn't have much time left."  
  
Trowa began heading for the door when Wufei called out for him to stop. "He only wants to see Relena and Heero."  
  
Trowa's face went pale. He stammered a response, but it was only jibberish. He fell against the wall and let the tears silently flow down his defined face.  
  
Silently, Heero and Relena entered the room. Quatre was hacking away on a stained towel. When he heard them, he did his best to control it, and he smiled.  
  
"God, Quatre… don't smile. Don't you know what's happening?" Heero sneered.  
  
"Y..yes…." Cough. "I'm very sorry."  
  
"Quatre, I'm so sorry I came to you at a time like this," Relena whispered, her head down.  
  
"N..no. Don't be. Bu..but…I have to talk." Hack. "To you two."  
  
The would-be couple stood close together, idly. Neither said anything to interrupt, though both didn't want their friend to waste his breath on something so trivial.  
  
"Miss Relena…I.. I admire you. For everything you've….." Sputter. "..done to …cr-create this…era. I'm glad that….that I got to see it."  
  
"No!.. I-."  
  
"A..and Heero…" Quatre continued, " I always… looked up to you." Wretch. "I.. knew I was… was going to die. I wanted… to.." Spew. "wanted to.. thank you."  
  
"Jesus, Quatre," Heero growled.  
  
"And.. I'm glad I.. got to see you two… together. Will you please tell the others…good.."  
  
Quatre never did finish his last request. There was one last gut- wrenching hack, and a spew of blood that made Relena shriek and turn away, hiding her eyes in Heero's shoulder. As a last favor, Heero cleaned up Quatre and then led the girl from the room. When everyone looked up at them, Heero smiled. It was a smile that none had ever seen on his face before- it was a Quatre smile.  
  
"He wished you all the best." Tears welled in his eyes, but he forbade himself to let the others see them drip. Relena, however, was too shocked to even have the beginnings of tears. She could only tremble in his arms.  
  
Duo looked down at his feet, shaking his head. "Poor Quatre.."  
  
Wufei cursed in Chinese. It was a curse mainly to himself for not getting there sooner.  
  
Trowa, whose face quite possibly had gone whiter, ran into the room of the dead pilot and crawled into bed alongside the boy, sobbing.  
  
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A week had passed before the funeral rites here given. The pilots minus Heero all attended the final burial. Heero went to visit Relena at her hotel- she'd been too upset to attend. As he stood outside her door, he remained silent and just stared at the wooden plane before him. It was Relena who opened the door.  
  
"I knew you'd be there," she whispered, allowing him inside.  
  
Heero stepped in, taking note of the fatigue in her eyes. He was sure she hadn't managed a good cry yet.  
  
"Relena…"  
  
She said nothing. Moving to her bedside, she sat at the foot of it and rummaged through her purse. What she retrieved was the letter, which has since been dented and banged up. Heero took it gingerly in his hands and opened it. His eyes scanned the piece of paper hastily; he threw it down before finishing and took her in his arms.  
  
"I'm sorry it took this."  
  
Finally, Relena let out a sound sob- it was all she needed to trigger it. And that's how they sat until she stopped.  
  
On the floor, the letter was open and inviting:  
  
Dearest Heero,  
  
How is it that you haunt my mind so? I find myself needing to see you all the time. I feel that if I don't, I can't accomplish anything. I know you think that's very foolish of me; I know you think I'm stronger than that.  
  
This is my last plea. I don't know what it's going to take for you to decide, but you need to make a decision. Either one or the other. The first option is to come see me- often. If you come see me, and I know I can depend on you whenever I need to, then I'll feel better. You won't haunt me like you do. The second is to not see me- ever. If that's the case, then I can learn to push you from my thoughts, and I can perform my duties without so much as a thought as to whether or not I can get by without your support.  
  
Please choose whatever is best for you.  
  
Yours or not,  
  
Relena  
  
[Fin]  
  
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Authors note: Eh.. the ending to this one sucked. Sorry about that. Anyway… now for a few words about inspiration. After Endless Waltz, we see Heero standing over Relena and watching over her. And then he just vanishes- just walks away. He made a promise to always protect her, but I always wondered what it would take for him to just –go- to her. In this case, it took the death of a good friend of Heero's- a friend that was very important to him, unbeknownst to himself. As for Trowa and Quatre… we all know they were something more. Even the non-yaoi fans have to admit it. Maybe I should have elaborated more on Trowa's pain, but the story was supposed to be about Relena and Heero. Oh yeah.. I did some spell checking, but for the most part, this is unedited.  
  
A few factorial notes:  
  
Wufei was a scholar before he became a pilot. It's in the Episode Zero sagas.. it's not something I just made up  
  
Quatre did in fact have a sister who was a doctor. Fans will recall her when Quatre was floating in space and a female doctor picked him up? (Before he went nuts) That was her. But she died…I made up the fact that one of his other sisters was also a doctor.  
  
To further explain Quatre's condition.. this is how it goes. He was infected with a virus that came off the disposal block that the Gundams were sent to the sun in. In EW, he hit that block pretty hard tying to board it, so we pretend that he cracked a helmet or a pipe on his suit. And you never know what's lurking in those trash blocks! The virus wore away the walls of organs ( his intestines, etc ) and his blood was pumping just enough to let him live on the line between life and death. Eventually, the organs were so thin that the blood burst them open (hence his coughing up blood.. it obviously got into his lungs since blood goes everywhere) and he pretty much drowned in his own blood. Kind of nasty, I know..  
  
I DON'T HATE QUATRE! Please don't write me hate mail saying that's why I killed him off. I love Quatre… I liked him before I founded my obsession with Heero. But he had to die because his kindness and wanting to help was the only thing I could think of to bring HxR together. And yes.. I'm aware many don't like Relena, but they need to get over it. I may be tempted to post hate mail on my LJ for all to make fun of.  
  
Thanks for reading ^^ 


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